Ladders are used for a wide variety of tasks that require ascending to a level normally out of reach when standing on the ground or floor. Most ladders used for ascending substantial heights, such as heights in excess of four to six feet, are designed to stand on the ground and lean against a flat surface, such as a roof or wall of a house. However, when such ladders are used to ascend trees, utility poles and other non-flat surfaces, the ladder may tend to engage the non-flat surface along only one of the side rails of the ladder or along the top step thereof. As such, the ladder may tend to slide or twist as the climber ascends up the ladder or when the climber should lean outwardly to reach for something.
In view of the potential harm of a fall, several ladder stabilizing devices have been developed to provide a measure of safety for climbers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,369 issued Mar. 12, 1935 to Risser shows a pole gripper disposed near the upper end of a ladder. The pole gripper has the shape of a "V" and rotates about a generally horizontal axis. However, the gripper only straddles the tree or pole without fully holding the same to prevent the ladder from sliding along the gripper.
A number of other stabilizing devices have means for gripping a tree or pole. Examples of such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 1,961,289 issued June 5, 1934 to Gardner, U.S. Pat. No. 2,232,414 issued Feb. 18, 1941 to Swann, U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,900 issued July 29, 1975 to Hunter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,301 issued Apr. 9, 1977 to Nameche, U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,587 issued May 23, 1978 to Pyle and U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,195 issued Sept. 4, 1984 to Surtain. However, there are several common features among the patented devices that hamper their utility and effectiveness. For example, several of the stabilizing devices require lifting the ladder off the ground and manipulating it to cause the grippers to grasp the pole. Since some ladders are quite heavy, this type of stabilizing device is generally impractical. Further, the gripping arrangements tend to be rather bulky and cumbersome making normal usage of the ladder at least inconvenient if not rather difficult.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a ladder stabilizing device for use with poles, trees and the like which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art constructions as noted above.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a ladder stabilizing device for use with poles, trees and the like which effectively grips the pole during use but also permits conventional use of the ladder without having to remove the ladder stabilizing device from the ladder.